ENGLISH

The Byzantine Theocracy: The Weil Lectures, Cincinnati

By Steven Runciman

Book information

Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Year
2004
ISBN
9780511562334, 0521545919, 0521214017, 0511562330, 9780521214018, 9780521545914
LCC
BX300 .R86
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
4 MB (4504602 bytes)
Pages
205\205
Scanned
no
Time added
2011-06-04 13:46:07

Description

The constitution of the Byzantine Empire was based on the conviction that it was the earthly copy of the Kingdom of Heaven. Just as God ruled in Heaven, so the Emperor, made in his image, should rule on earth and carry out his commandments. This was the theory, but in practice the state was never free from its Roman past, particularly the Roman law, and its heritage of Greek culture. Sir Steven Runciman's Weil lectures trace the various ways in which the Emperor tried to put the theory into practice - and thus the changing relationship between church and state - from the days of the first Constantine to those of the eleventh. The theocratic constitution remained virtually unchanged during those eleven centuries. No other constitution in the Christian era has endured for so long.

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